Once Yohan Cabaye’s second-half strike
took a ricochet off Nemanja Vidic and nestled in the bottom right-hand
corner, the defending Premier League champions were a forlorn and beaten
side.

Moyes had acted tough by making seven changes from the midweek home defeat by Everton — but this response was even worse.

Thousands
of United fans had left before the end. Those who stayed for the
full-time whistle greeted Newcastle’s first win at Old Trafford since
1972 with a chorus of boos.

It
has been 11 years since United fans last had to witness consecutive
home defeats and only the third time since 1992 they have lost two in a
row without scoring. They are well off the pace for a Champions League
qualification spot, let alone challenging for the title.

With
four out of their next five fixtures away, Moyes is on the cusp of his
first real crisis, rather than knee-jerk reaction to a bad result.

He
could point to one piece of bad luck when Vurnon Anita’s handball on
the line went unnoticed. But United finished leaderless and clueless.

With Wayne Rooney suspended, Robin van Persie failed to step into the
breach on his return from injury.

Things were so
desperate at the end Moyes even threw on Wilfried Zaha for his Premier
League debut, having ignored him for four months. The £15million winger
was so hyped up he raced around too frantically to make any impact.

It
was so strikingly bad that the uncontroversial Owen Hargreaves, BT
Sport’s ex-United Champions League winner, was moved to say: ‘They will
have to address things in the January transfer window.’

The
afternoon had started promisingly. Newcastle’s tactic to kick Januzaj
at every opportunity backfired when Cabaye was booked early and the
teenage winger revived memories of a young Ryan Giggs after a lovely
exchange with Rafael before embarking on a great run that nearly brought
reward.

But when the home
side lost momentum, tetchiness was not far away. Phil Jones gestured to
Nani after the winger timidly lost a 50-50 challenge, Rafael and Januzaj
exchanged words and gestures, then Nani showed dissent when he was
eventually substituted.

Van Persie came deeper and deeper, producing the pass of the match to Javier Hernandez who had to be foiled by Tim Krul.

There
was genuine misfortune when Patrice Evra met Januzaj’s free-kick with a
header that struck the inside the post and rebounded to safety via
Anita’s hand.

Just past the
hour mark, Newcastle struck. Moussa Sissoko had acres of room down the
right and when his cutback was met on the edge of the area by Cabaye,
Vidic flung himself towards the ball and succeeded only in diverting the
shot past David de Gea.

Going wild: The Geordies were ecstatic with their away win at Old Trafford and they showed it

Can't believe their eyes: United fans have been treated to two poor consecutive home performances

Misery: David de Gea pictured collapsed on the turf after Cabaye popped up with the opener

Moyes
said: ‘It’s disappointing to lose — once again. We could have done with
a goal. Pat was a bit unfortunate, his (Anita’s) hand definitely stops
the ball going into the net.

‘Wins
breed confidence. I don’t think anyone could have said anything about
it if we’d won against Everton and today, but because we are Manchester
United, we have to play better, take more opportunities and win more
games.’

Penalty shout: Vurnon Anita appeared to handle the ball as it hit the post

Feeling the pressure? It was another difficult day at the office for David Moyes at Old Trafford

Making an effort: Fabricio Coloccini gets to the ball before United midfielder Adnan Januzaj

The only comfort for Moyes is that among the dissenters at the
end, there was applause from a good section of fans as he took the
lonely walk back to the dressing room.

He
was without the unwell Shinji Kagawa and injured Marouane Fellaini,
Chris Smalling and Carrick. Rooney’s absence through
suspension was the most significant.

‘It
was hard for them not having Rooney available, which helped us,’
acknowledged Newcastle boss Alan Pardew. ‘The headlines might be
elsewhere [on Moyes] but my team deserve credit — 41 years is a bloody
long time not to win here and the players were conscious of it. What
pleased me most was our retention of the ball.’

Moyes
insists he has not changed anything since replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.
Maybe he should. Maybe he should announce Sunday’s team to face Aston
Villa on Thursday.

All together now: Man United players pictured observing a minute's applause for the late Nelson Mandela

Respect: David Moyes claps before the game as everybody claps for the former South African president